Hello! Welcome to 24 Washington Avenue. This is my singer 15k 80. 

I bought it in London when I resided  there over a decade ago and it moved  

with me when I relocated to the United States. It came with this lovely manual that was perfectly  

preserved thanks largely in part to an oil spill  that had taken place in one of the drawers. 

The other manuals I've seen have generally  had rather tattered and frayed pages but  

this one is in immaculate condition I hope to  go through the basics of this machine in some  

detail following the instructions as listed  by the manufacturer and I hope that you will  

find it of use or, if nothing else, of interest. The first thing that singer recommend is that the  

user practices operation of the treadle machine  without the actual sewing mechanisms engaged so  

reading from the book: Balance Wheel Stop Motion:  this device allows the balance wheel to run free  

so the bobbins may be wound and the correct  method of treading acquired without operating  

the stitching mechanism to loosen the wheel hold  it with the left hand and with the right hand turn  

the stop motion screw over towards you as shown  in Figure one and that is what it looks like and  

I shall now demonstrate- left hand on top of the  wheel right hand holding the stop wheel mechanism  

and turning it to me over the top to me which  disengages the sewing mechanism so the wheel  

can be operated using the treadle without the  needle going up and down. Now if I tighten that  

turning it away from me over the top, now you can  see that the sewing mechanism has been engaged. 

So once again turned toward me over the top it  is now disengaged and this allows the user to  

get a good feel for the treadle motion at  slow speeds, and at fast speeds stopping  

and starting. It's important to know that  the wheel should always turn over-the-top  

toward you - never away from you. They go on to write that once a person  

is familiar with the working movement one  might tighten the balance wheel by turning  

the stop motion screw from you, and placing  a piece of material under the presser foot  

lower the latter by means of a lifter and again  work the machine without its being threaded,  

until you are accustomed to guiding the material.  So here's my fabric in place. I have engaged the  

mechanism over at the flywheel. Fabric is  under the presser foot, I will now use the  

lifter at the rear to lower the presser foot my  needle is not threaded and now, I will begin to  

operate the machine to get a gauge for guiding  the material underneath of the presser foot

Were I to turn a corner, I would pause  with the needle in the down position,  

lift the presser foot using the lifter,  turn my fabric, lower the presser foot,  

and continue again ensuring that the flywheel  turns over the top toward me never away from me.

Next for the instructions on setting the needle  for the first time. Raise the needle bar to  

its highest point and loosen the thumb  screw - so that's at its highest point,  

thumb screws loosened, hold the needle with  the left hand and with its flat side to the  

right insert it into the needle clamp as far  as it will go and then retighten the screw.

And I'm turning it now to ensure that  the flat side is pointing to the right  

then inserting it underneath as far as it will go  

(taking care not to poke myself!) and  then re-tightening the thumb screw.

So they wish for you to turn the balance wheel  until the lever is that its highest. So this is at  

its highest. My thread is on top of the spool pin  on top of the machine, I now take the thread pass  

it through the back of the machine over the notch  down between the tension disks - from the back  

between the disks - up over the thread guard which  is this l-shaped piece here from behind, into the  

loop of (the spring the spring is right here),  up through the hole in the end of the lever from  

the back, down into the guide, (which if you just  hold the thread there's a notch on this side and  

it will pass in - it's not a complete circle so if  you just pull it up against the front it will slip  

into place you don't have to thread it through the  hole) into the second guide, which is down here by  

the needle and then, from left to right, you may  thread through the eye of the needle so once again  

the thread passes over this notch at the back  between the tension disks from the back underneath  

over the top and over the guard, then through  the spring which I just pass it down the side  

here underneath (and I tend to hold the thread  back because it provides just enough tension to  

allow you to catch the spring) then through the  hole in the lever from back to front through the  

first of the thread guides and again you can just  create some tension and pull toward the back and  

it will slip in there once again just tension pull  toward the back and it will slip in and then down  

through the thread guard at the front and then you  are able to thread the needle from left to right.

Removing the Bobbin Case and Bobbin: Turn the  balance wheel toward you until the take-up lever  

is at its highest point so this is the same  position as when we were threading the needle.  

Draw open the slide in the bed of the machine  and with the thumb and forefinger of the left  

hand open the latch and withdraw the bobbin case.  So here's the manual. This is the latch that is  

pulled out to release the bobbin casing from the  pin and allow it to be pulled out so just to show.

There's the lever, so I'd reach in and grab that  

with my finger it will release and  then the bobbin casing comes out.

I shan't cover winding the bobbin at the moment  however we will discuss threading the bobbin case.  

You simply take the bobbin with the thread passing  away from you over the top, pass it into the case,  

take the tail, pass it through the slot around  toward the back, keeping tension applied it will  

slot into place it just pulls right into place.  So again, the tail away from you over the top,  

into the case (and I usually just hold it pinched  with my thumb and index finger so that it doesn't  

pull out), turn it so that the thread goes  through that slot, pull it back and it will  

just pop into place, so now the bobbin case is  threaded and can be reinserted below the machine.

Drop the tail into the belly of the sewing  machine, close the cover and then to pill  

needle when it reaches its highest  point pull on the tail and it will  

pull the thread up from the bobbin and  now you have two threads ready to sew.

The stitch length regulator allows the user to  change the length of the stitch. It is controlled  

through this screw here. In its uppermost  position it provides the longest stitch,  

and pushed all the way to the bottom it barely  moves at all it simply goes up and down - there is  

no backwards and forwards motion. You may see that  with the screw in its lowest position the feed  

dogs simply go up and down -there is no backwards  and forwards motion, whereas if I turn the screw  

and lift it all the way to the uppermost position,  now you can see there is a very clear forwards and  

backwards motion - where the feed dogs would  be coming up, applying pressure to the fabric,  

moving it backwards and then dropping down. If  I move the stitch length selector about half  

way you can see as I move it the distance that  it travels towards the back changes so now in  

a medium position there is still a moderate  amount of forwards and backwards movement,  

but far less than in the uppermost position.  Now to demonstrate those stitches, I have a  

black piece of cloth here so that the white  thread will be clearly visible. This is with  

the stitch selector in its uppermost position  ... now moving it down to the middle ... down  

even further ... and I won't move it all the way  down to the bottom because there will be nothing  

to see! So now to remove my fabric I simply pull  it to the back, sever the threads, and now you  

can see where I started out there is the initial  stitch, transitioning to a medium length stitch,  

transitioning to a super small stitch, and with  the feed dogs disengaged or not moving forwards  

and backwards at least a person would be able  to do free motion embroidery, buttonholing,  

and other such tasks where you do not wish  to have that forwards and backwards motion.

As with any mechanical device maintenance is of  critical importance. Various oiling points can  

be found on the machine, on the bobbin winder  including the underside. Generally speaking,  

I will turn the hand wheel and look for  anything that's moving - any points where  

there is any kind of motion - and I will give  it a generous oiling, ensuring that I have a  

cloth underneath to catch any drips and I will  give it a quick rub afterwards to make sure that  

there is no oil left to attract fibers or dust  and make a mess of the underside of my machine. 

From the manual the oiling points are clearly  identified - including instructions on the  

best positioning of the machine the  in order to oil the various points. 

So that's on the underside and you must  make sure that you disengage the belt on  

the treadle before trying to rotate the  machine back because the tension in that  

belt will stop your machine from moving. As they say, neglect to oil the machine and  

you will shorten its life and find yourself  faced with lots of trouble and annoyance!!